Defunding and Repealing Obamacare

August 8, 2013

Defunding and repealing Obamacare is smart, and is a worthy objective. Unfortunately, the “strategy” of shutting down the government to achieve that goal is not smart, nor will it help us achieve our shared objective.

To be clear, I believe the law is a disaster for the American people. It is putting a wet blanket on job creation, squeezing more of Americans’ hard-earned take-home pay, increasing health care costs, and decreasing access to quality healthcare. That is exactly why I fought against passage of the bill and have repeatedly supported efforts and legislation to defund and repeal Obamacare in its entirety.

The reality is that the Senate is controlled by Democrats who voted Obamacare into law, and Barack Obama is still President of the United States. President Obama will never sign a continuing resolution that defunds his signature legislative achievement. Therefore, as spelled out in Article I Section 7 of the United States Constitution, where it discusses procedures for overriding a presidential veto, we would need two-thirds majority votes in both the Senate and the House of Representatives to actually defund Obamacare by this strategy.

The only way the tactics laid out in this letter actually achieve our shared goal is if the federal government remains shut-down until the next elections in November 2014 and 2016. I do not believe the American people, as opposed as they are to Obamacare, will view that as responsible governing.

We should continue to govern in the way our Founders intended-as a loyal and principled opposition that looks out for well-being of all the American people. That is exactly what I will continue to do-work with my colleagues to pursue serious legislative proposals to get rid of Obamacare, and make the case to the American people of the dangers of this disastrous law.